Celebrities empathizing with West Memphis Three campaign for their release

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Celebrities empathizing with West Memphis Three campaign for their release
By Trevor Aaronson
Published Sunday, February 28, 2010

Seventeen years after police discovered the bodies of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, actor Johnny Depp provoked the CBS newsmagazine "48 Hours Mystery" to examine the case of the so-called West Memphis Three.

That case — in which three teenagers were convicted of murdering Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore in 1993 — has for years been among the loudest claims of wrongful conviction in the United States. It's also a well-worn cause célèbre for the entertainment industry's A-list.

Depp has stepped behind a line of actors, musicians and artists who have campaigned for the release of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. Echols is on death row, while Baldwin and Misskelley are serving life sentences.

"They were easy targets," Depp said on the episode of "48 Hours Mystery," which aired Saturday evening. "There was a need for swift justice at the time to placate, understandably, an angry and frightened community."

Of all the cases involving assertions of wrongful conviction — and there have been 251 post-conviction DNA exonerations in this country — the West Memphis Three is unique for its celebrity appeal.

Two albums, including 2002's Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, have been produced to raise money for a legal fund. Actress Winona Ryder, musicians Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins, and comedian Margaret Cho are among supporters of the West Memphis Three.

"I've always thought the West Memphis Three is a story that has particular resonance in the arts and entertainment world for a bunch of reasons," said Eric Ferrero, a spokesman for Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people.

"The fact that those kids in part were targeted because they were quote-unquote different or social outcasts — that's a notion that people in the arts world can relate to."

Indeed, in his interview on "48 Hours Mystery," Depp made clear that teenage experiences he had in common with Echols drew him to the case.

"I immediately related to Damien, what he went through growing up," the actor said. "He comes from a small town in Arkansas. I come from a relatively small town in Kentucky. I can remember kind of being looked upon as a freak or different, because I didn't dress like everybody else. So I can empathize with being judged by how you look."

The West Memphis Three wore black clothes, listened to heavy metal music and demonstrated interest in Wicca.

After Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were arrested for the murders in 1993, the mother of victim Steve Branch agreed to be interviewed by a local TV news station. The camera trained on her, Pam Hobbs held the Boy Scout jacket her son had earned.

"Do you feel like the people who did this were worshipping, uh — " the reporter asked.

"Satan?" Hobbs finished. "Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Just look at the freaks," she answered. "I mean, just look at 'em.

"They look like punks."

At trial, jurors heard about the teenagers' tastes in music, literature and art, allowing prosecutors to portray them as Satanists responsible for a murder scene so gruesome it was described as occultist.

"The fact that the pop culture they consumed was used against them gives the case direct relevance to people in the arts and entertainment," said Ferrero.

Alleged problems with the prosecution's case only bolstered the West Memphis Three as a made-for-Hollywood crusade.

Prosecutors relied on a confession from Misskelley, who was 17 at the time and had an IQ slightly above the level for mild mental disability.

What's more, no physical evidence linked the West Memphis Three to the murder scene. More recently, a judge denied motions for a new trial after discovery of DNA from Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, in evidence from the crime scene.

"There is nothing from the crime scene that links Damien or Jason or Jesse to these crimes," Depp said on "48 Hours." "There is not a shred of evidence. There's nothing there. There's no physical evidence.

"I think the most courageous action the state could now take is to admit that they were wrong, admit they made mistakes, and then correct these errors. My biggest fear is — and it's almost unutterable — is that justice is not served not only for the three innocent men in prison but also for those three little innocent boys who were savagely murdered."

Celebrity fascination with the case puzzles Mike Walden, the prosecutor now representing the state against the West Memphis Three.

"I've never been able to explain why some things get larger than life, including this," Walden said.

Despite their famous advocates, Walden said he has yet to review evidence that establishes the innocence of the West Memphis Three. "It takes more than just finding someone else's DNA on the crime scene," he said.

In our celebrity-driven culture and media, Depp succeeded in driving the news agenda. He pushed CBS News to probe on primetime television a well-known, 17-year-old claim of wrongful conviction and, in turn, prompted articles such as this one — all while making the rounds to promote his latest movie, "Alice in Wonderland."

Meanwhile, on Feb. 4, Freddie Peacock, a 60-year-old from Rochester, N.Y., was exonerated by DNA evidence 33 years after being convicted of rape. Peacock was black and poor and did not have celebrity support — the most common description for those exonerated following wrongful convictions.

"Attention on the West Memphis Three case probably reinforces the fact that wrongful convictions can and do happen to people of all kinds," Ferrero said.

"A deeper discussion to look at, I think, is whether it means anything that they've gotten a lot of attention and they happen to be white.

"That's probably the same type of media analysis that goes into questions of why so much attention is given to young white girls who go missing."

Trevor Aaronson, a Florida-based freelancer, is a former reporter for The Commercial Appeal.